Its easy, read on to find out how you can do it, but why you might not want to.
Lets take a quick step back and look at the big picture. I’ll throw everything at the canvas to give you an idea of why I approached this the way I did.
- Knee surgery recovery – I know that my knees absorb an increased level of abuse for each additional pound of weight I carry. I also feel that additional weight was a contributing factor to my injury in the first place.
- Everyone wants quick results. I am no different despite actually having a good idea about how to eat, maintain my weight and a decent level of discipline.
- Paleo/Slow Carb – I have been on a version of these diets for around 4 months with great results. I have had a high level of energy, lost fat, gained muscle and felt healthy.
- While at work I have a very structured environment that contributes well to introducing changes and evaluating results. Because of the controlled environment I am able to run a wide range of experiments and feel good about what I am learning.
- I have never actually conducted a low carb experiment. I tend to gravitate towards a more plant based diet so it doesn’t really feel right to embrace a carnivorous approach to loosing weight. But with the bigger picture in mind I decided to give it a shot.
- I set a goal to loose 10 pounds in a 4 week period. I got down to the last week and realized that I was not going to meet my goal on with the current weight loss trajectory. A more aggressive means of weight loss was required.
- Due to the need to continue gaining muscle mass during surgery recovery I wanted to keep protein intake as high as possible.
All of those factors coupled together lead me to the conclusion that a low carb experiment was the way to go. Based on the experience of other people I was also pretty sure that I would experience rapid weight loss, most of which I realize is fluid. What I am really most experienced to see is how much weight I gain after reverting to the plant based paleo diet.
Experiment Findings
- I lost weight at the raid rate that I expected. Roughly one pound per day for a total of 5 pounds in 5 days.
- My energy level plummeted and I felt extremely lethargic. I was still able to do required job tasks but I did not have much motivation and I was much more prone to take an afternoon nap.
- My thinking became foggy and I was unable to complete higher level thinking tasks. Working on entrepreneurial activities slowed to a crawl. My mood deteriorated and I became negative and depressed. My forward momentum pretty much ground to a halt.
- I developed sugar cravings which I have not experienced for some time. On the paleo/slow carb I very rarely have any type of craving. On low carb the cravings became almost unbearable.
- I stopped making trips to the restroom. Eating a plant based diet ensures that you will make frequent healthy trips to the restroom to take care of business. On low carb these trips virtually disappear. I found myself missing the toilet like it was an old friend.
- I was continually asked if I was feeling ok or if I was sick. I thought I looked ok but others that see me on a regular basis thought otherwise. I found it frightening that in such a short amount of time my diet could have such a negative impact on my appearance and demeanor.
Conclusion
I think the low carb diet has a place in the toolbox but you must recognize that it is not a healthy way to loose weight. When eating low carb you are consuming very few of the vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients that your body requires in order to function properly. In the future if I decide that I need to cut a certain amount of weight by a specific deadline I will use a more mathematical calorie counting and restricting approach. As I mentioned I have had good success loosing weight on a hybrid paleo/slow carb approach. Tweaking this approach more towards paleo would also have a more dramatic fat loss effect. I would reserve this diet for body builders looking to loose that last couple percent of body fat, weight class athletes making weight or people attempting to kick start a weight loss regime.
I have found that my diet is hugely influential in my level of productivity. So while trying to work a job, start a business, recover from surgery and train for a half Iron Man I need all the help I can get. Fine tuning my diet is my secret weapon that will allow me to continue producing at a high level.